A self-organizational management network based on adaptive resonance theory

Abstract

This paper presents an organizational network for product configuration management within the context of Virtual Enterprise. Actors, from high level strategy making actors to low level physical devices, can advertise their own skill and knowledge and seek for partners to form dynamic alliances in a community. The network is organized based on Adaptive Resonance Theory(ART) which was originally used for unsupervised neural network learning and which allows the organization and cooperation of such product development alliances to be more flexible and adaptable. Some characteristics, which are inherent in real enterprises or society, such as self-organization, unsupervised learning, competition between actors are exhibited in the ART-based organization network and are the keys for evolution and development of enterprises.